7-6-25 —Uncomfortably Dark presents: A Special Interview with Linda D. Addison and Jamal Hodge

This week is such an honor for me. I interviewed the amazing and remarkable Linda Addison and Jamal Hodge, authors of the stunning poetry collection, EVERYTHING ENDLESS.

Let’s get into it.

First things first, how did this poetic duo of perfection come to be?

Linda: Jamal and I first met around 2012 in NYC at a gathering of Black writers and have been in contact since then. He’s an amazing filmmaker and in 2020 released an incredible film MOURNING MEAL inspired by one my poem of the same title. When I started working with him on evolving his poetry we began talking about our approach to the world, humans and the universe. After we published a collaborative poem, All the Ghosts Keep Dying in 2020 SFPA Star*Line magazine #43.4, it was clear our strange brains sang in rhythm.

In conversations we’ve had over the years, too often one of us would say something that sparked energy and ultimately became part of something one of us were writing. Jamal first suggested doing a collection together of short poems similar to the Life Poems I’ve been sharing on social media since 2015. This absolutely appealed to me, but I was (and still am) overwhelmed with other projects of my own and with others, so I couldn’t commit to doing it. But overtime it grew in my subconscious, nurtured by Jamal’s persistence (LOL) and the words “Everything Endless” surfacing from one of our conversations. Once that happened the writing poured out.

Jamal: Well, for the longest time Linda has mentored me in my craft. I think at this point it had been about nine years or so, and I had always wanted to try to create something that honors of the very best of what her works embody. Such as the duality of human nature, the depths of internal and external dimensions of the self and each other. It has also been a dream of mine to write something with her, especially after reading her collaboration with Alessandro Manzetti in The Place of Broken Things. I like to think we have similar brains, minds that are asking similar questions- which is far better affliction than answers.

These questions about the extraordinary in the ordinary, I knew she would enjoy tackling in dwarf form poems, one of the rare areas of poetry she’s rarely explored in-depth.  Convincing Linda to make the time for this was another story. Two years… two whole years of subtle bribes and inquiries, scheming for a yes. I had designed the whole damn thing as a tribute to her, and she kept saying, “I ain’t got the time for that.” But I’m as patient as the devil.

One day we had an organic conversation about a book I was working on, and this collection came up again. We found the name for it in a simple sentence and that’s when I knew it was now real, once she accepted the name I knew she was onboard. What an honor to work with one of the greatest living genre poets, a trailblazer and a bridge builder for so many writers of color in our field. I was hyped. Now the dream is a reality, and I couldn’t be happier with what we’ve created together. 

The ability for both of you to make the reader seem so significant and insignificant with the vivid imagery of space down to the atoms in our bodies was stunning. Was this an intended feeling you wanted to invoke?

Jamal: Yes, thank you for seeing that. We wanted to create an exploration of that very duality, for instance whenever one person dies the world dies, and yet the world still lives. There is beauty in how we are limitless within limitations, both gods and dust. We wanted the reader to contemplate that lovely paradox of significance and insignificance throughout their reading journey. Even the form of the poems played a part in this- huge concepts, compressed into dwarf form, a compression of space and time to relay story.

Linda: The first line of your question could be a blurb! We wanted to take the reader on a journey through the finite (our bodies, cells, atoms) into the unimaginable infinite, to dance with us into the space between our atoms and the space between the stars; to feel the oneness. In fact, science has been mapping similarities between the shapes and patterns of the human brain/body and the nature/universe. Perhaps we humans aren’t as separate as we think.

The illusions of becoming one with God, space, love, or whatever the reader will relate to starts early in the collection. On page 12, “when answering the binary call of two heavens” to page 43, “One binary us”. Is this final point of oneness intentional for the reader to pick up on?

Linda: Absolutely, we have both played with the idea of oneness in our individual work as a strong point of reality and evolution, for humans to see ourselves as the beginning and ending to understanding the world around us. As in what does it mean if we’re connected to everything that exists, that has existed, that will exist in the future? What if we allow ourselves to consider that connection, then what does it mean to love or hate another person (or ourselves)?

Jamal: All duality creates a singularity. That could be explored I think for a lifetime. The push and pull between the desire to be a singular self and to be absorbed into the whole. We tried our best to examine a sliver of it in Everything Endless.

A few of my favorite poems were “Ghosts of Black Holes” and “Vast Desire”. What is/are your favorite poem(s) of the collection? Your favorite that the other wrote?

Jamal: I can’t spoil it, but the epistolary poem at the end is probably my favorite, when we merged our voices for the universe’s final revelation to the reader. To this day I have no idea where that came from, and it shakes me whenever I read it. The other one is EARTHMAN. It has all the humor, irony and cynicism I love. Highlighting the stupidity in our genius, and the cycles of logic we ignore in order not to do better by the world we already have. My favorite poems for Linda’s, honestly there are so many. There is a velveteen smoothness to how Linda stirs hope from darkness, she finds the human thread in all situations no matter how dark. I think that’s in full display in her poems POINT CLOUD REINCARNATION and even in THE HOLOCENE EXTINCTION. I love the darkness and the hope in those poems.

Linda: The first poem that I thought of as my favorite, other than all of them, was the final poem in the book, THOUGH YOU ALWAYS ARE. This wondrous collaborative letter poem literally flowed from us effortlessly and feels new every time I read it. I love each piece in Everything Endless for different reasons, but I will highlight…

Jamal’s poems:

DARK BANG (the perfect introduction to the journey our book creates), INNER SPACE (Jamal doing that thing he does with only eight powerful words making a movie/novel of thoughts appear in the reader), EARTHMAN (a perfectly balanced singing of human wounds), STARDUST (a beautiful example of how Jamal’s path to hope unfolds, like a song), AFTER (one of my favorites where again his eight words bring enlightenment and a smile).

My poems:

NIGHT FALL (universe’s whimsical song), THE HOLOCENE EXTINCTION (a quiet warning that counterbalances Earth sadness of loss under the watchful eyes of the Universe), GHOSTS OF BLACK HOLES (my meditation on how things end/begin), CURRENT ABODE OF HUMANS (inspired by the message and rhythm of Jamal’s EARTHMAN poem).

The sections are titled interestingly: no/beginning. no/end. end/less. Can you explain the meanings in depth (if spoilers are given, I will attach a disclaimer in the interview post).

Linda: The section titles surfaced naturally from the form and purpose of each that were originally proposed by Jamal. I was completely inspired by the format he suggested and as our poetry flowed out, they fell into place. The sections created their own kind of poem for Everything Endless, like signposts to purposely introduce the reader to how this journey was going to unfold. I’ll let Jamal explain more about the concepts around the title's creation.

Jamal: Yes, so structurally we wanted to incorporate a cinematic quality to the arrangement in no/beginning (there is no beginning or end!). Its structure is organized from the fundamental poles, or the duality in the beginning of things, a subtle call and response of large concept poems, where a poem from me, and then a poem from Linda, and so on and so forth building into a crescendo. In no/end the scale changes to the societal, the personal, the collective of community.

The poems here are organized based on theme and voice, with deep messages on aspects of existence to contemplate, tremble, and laugh at. Seven/Now is about the endless laws of the universe structured around the Hermetic principles; Linda and I approached each law from two perspectives, the Macro or the Micro, to symbolize as above so below, as within so without.

These poems are mirrors; they were the most challenging to write in my opinion and are packed with symbolism. End/less, the last part is a merging of our voices as the universe speaks to you the reader. Everything Endless is one cohesive journey that starts with the Big Bang, and ends with you… though it never truly ends at all…

Now an easy one for you both: Can you name a few of your poetic inspirations and one of their works each for us to dive into?

Linda: It’s hard to name the many poets that inspire because I’m constantly discovering poets now that make me want to write (like Jamal’s work), but here are a few of my early influences. Maya Angelou: The Poetry of Maya Angelou (which includes the poem Caged Bird, which inspired my poem Empathy). Langston Hughes: The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (there are too many books to choose from so I happily own this one). Charles Bukowski: Come On In!(the music in his unstructured writing opened me up). Alice Walker: Her Blue Body Everything We Know (I have many of her books, but this is the one I kept on my desk as I wrote my first collection, Animated Objects).

Jamal: Well obviously outside of the great Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Charles Bukowski and Christina Sng, I’ve obviously been inspired by the Linda. In fact, working with her on this collection forced me to become a much better poet. It ain’t easy attempting to stand side by side with one of the greats, gotta step yo shit up!

Will there be more collaborations in the future? (Asking for a very selfish reader. It’s me.)

Jamal: Of course, I would love that, but it would probably be unfair to all the other poets clamoring to do a collab with Linda. If I continue to occupy that slot, I know at least one of them that might try to kill me, lol, but seriously though, we have other collabs coming up in the anthology and story formats. But I suspect for the next few years the grand master is going to be putting out her own series of solo collections and novels. 

Linda: Collaborations are a very special kind of writing for me—writing with Jamal was an affirmation of the exquisite harmony created by two similar seekers of the universe. We will be sharing space in anthologies with either poetry or stories, but nothing as focused as this book. Each collaboration unlocks another layer of my creative evolution. I’ve been in conversation with another poet, but right now I’m exploring writing novels, which is a new form for me and mapping out a solo poetry collection, so any new collaborations will have to wait.

What are a few upcoming projects that we can look forward to?

Linda: I have work in several other 2025 publications, the ones I can mention at this point: anthologies Space Funk!, Human, Vol. 2, Sauúti Terrors; Weird Tales magazine #371 - An Undead Issue; An Illegal Feast, a poetry collection with Consuelo G. Flores, Andrea Goyan, Elizabeth Eve King & Elizabeth Wong. Also working on new novel & a solo poetry project, which I look forward to sharing more about in the future. Everything Endless written with Jamal has been an incredible experience, I’m excited that it’s in the world. Thank you, Uncomfortably Dark for asking us to talk about our book.

Jamal: I’m currently shopping a new poetry collection, a short story collection, and finalizing a novel. There is a anthology I’ve been putting together as well with some amazing writers. Sorry to be so vague but I can’t say too much before it’s all baked and ready to go. In the meantime, you can see some of my new work in the upcoming, Sauúti Terrors Anthology, Waterborne Anthology, The 50^th Anniversary Issue of Obsidian Magazine, and The Dwarf Stars 2025 chapbook. It’s a dream to get to do this, I am grateful. Thank you for this uncomfortably dark interview.

EVERYTHING ENDLESS

By Jamal Hodge and Linda D. Addison

A cosmic collaboration between Science Fiction & Fantasy Association Grand Master Linda D. Addison and visionary versifier Jamal Hodge, Everything Endless, sheds brilliant light in dark times. With themes of creation, cosmos, the macroscopic and the microscopic, this collection tells the story of life itself and expresses fervent hope for a more creative future. Working in conversation, with alternating poems, the authors blend their unique voices and styles into a symphony of startling images. Never forgetting their roots, these Black poets bring the rhythm of call and response alive across the page with the laser focus of 10,000 suns.

Order Here:

https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Endless-Linda-D-Addison/dp/B0DTQKNPZX/

About Jamal Hodge:

JAMAL HODGE is a NYC born multi-award winning director of Television and Film. As a writer Hodge is an active member of The HWA and The SFPA, being nominated for a 2021 & 2022 Rhysling Award, while his poem 'Colony' won 2nd place at the 2022 Dwarf Stars.

His work is featured in Quail Nous 2, CHIRAL MAD 5, Unioverse: Stories of The Reconvergence, and The Years Best African Speculative Fiction 2022. Jamal’s debut Poetry collection ‘The Dark Between The Twilight’ and anthology 'Bestiary of Blood' is published by Crystal Lake Publishing.

About Linda D. Addison:

Linda D. Addison born in Philadelphia, PA is an American poet and writer of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Addison is the first African-American winner of the HWA Bram Stoker Award®, which she won five times for her collections Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes (2001); Being Full of Light, Insubstantial (2007); How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend (2011); Four Elements (2014) and The Place of Broken Things (2019, with Alessandro Manzetti). Addison has received the HWA Mentor of the Year Award and the HWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, she was designated as the Science-Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) 2020 Grand Master.

She has published over 400 poems, stories and articles and is one of the editors of Sycorax’s Daughters (Cedar Grove Publishing), an anthology of horror fiction/poetry by African-American women (HWA Bram Stoker finalist). Catch her latest work in anthologies Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda (Titan Books); Miscreations (Written Backwards), Don’t Turn Out the Lights (HarperCollins); Under Twin Suns anthology (Hippocampus Press); Were Tales: A Shapeshifter Anthology! (Brigids Gate Press); Attack from the ’80s (Raw Dog Screaming Press); HyBriD anthology (Hybrid Sequence Media) & Predator: Eyes of the Demon (Titan Books). Addison is a founding member of the writer’s group Circles in the Hair (CITH), and a member of HWA, SFWA, SFPA and IAMTW.